How does he cope with the intensity of his lonely skill – Neeraj Chopra reveals

Given the intensity of the lonely skill of javelin throw, it is little wonder that an athlete’s struggles are with himself as much as with the opponents he faces, and that a lack of confidence can invite negative thinking. For Neeraj Chopra, the defending champion in the Olympic javelin throw, protecting himself from such tendencies is critical. The methods he uses to stay positive are idiosyncratic and tell us as much about the quirks of the human mind as the nuances of a top-tier athlete.

“The only person you can talk with is yourself,” Neeraj tells Sportstar in an exclusive chat ahead of the Paris Olympics. “If I think the last throw was good, I’ll tell myself I can do even better. If it wasn’t good, I would tell myself that I needed to do better. I’m usually telling myself to do better now because at both the Budapest World Championships and then at the Doha Diamond League, I really didn’t start well. People think I’ll always make winning throws on my first attempt, but it isn’t like that. I try my best, but it takes time for things to come together,” he adds. 

Neeraj won the javelin competition at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. It was the first gold medal ever won by India in track and field, considered the marquee sport of the Summer Games, and only the country’s second in an individual event in more than a century of Olympic competition. An adductor strain had reportedly kept Neeraj out of competitive action prior to the Paris Olympics, but he insists that “all’s well” now and he will throw at full tilt in Paris.

Elaborating on his coping mechanisms, Neeraj says, “Most of my conversations are internal, although sometimes I’ll also go up to the coach to ask for advice on changes I can make. Those internal conversations are very blunt; they are said with some amount of khundak (ill will). I don’t curse myself or anything, but I’ll tell myself in Haryanvi, ‘ Tu itna bhi nahi kar sakta?’ (You can’t even do this much.) I’ll motivate myself by telling myself that I must do this. I can’t go without completing what I am there for. Whatever I have inside me, I must give it out on the field. I’ll remind myself to keep my focus on throwing with proper technique. If my technique on the runway isn’t good, then that will mean I’ll have to compensate by increasing the speed of my arm, which isn’t the best way to throw.”